Small businesses of 10 or less employees, don’t have to report injuries or illnesses to OSHA

Written by: Gannett Wisconsin Media

The Nov. 28th death in Dodge County of a Horicon man who was apparently overcome by toxic fumes while working in a coating room with his boss is being investigated by federal safety officials.

While Dodge County Medical Examiner PJ Schoebel said the cause of death for Roman Torres, 55, is still undetermined pending completion of lab work, rescue workers on the scene believe Torres and Thomas Persha were overcome by fumes while mixing chemicals in a small interior room at Vivid Image Inc., located just outside Theresa.

Persha, 65, also of Horicon, was rushed to the hospital for treatment.

According to OSHA investigations conducted between Oct. 1, 2010, and Sept. 30, 2011, the lack of proper respiratory protection was listed as one of the most frequently cited standards following inspections of worksites.

As OSHA workers gather information following the death of Torres, they aren’t likely to find any documentation on site of a similar incident years ago that resulted in two workers being rushed to the hospital.

Dodge County Emergency Management Director Joe Meagher said rescue workers were called to the business after a UPS driver found two men lying unresponsive at the business. The incident was simply listed as an ambulance call.

Because Vivid Image is a small-time operation with just two employees, many federal safety reporting rules don’t apply, including the documentation of injury and illness incidents.

Under current law, only businesses with 10 or more employees in any given year are required to document incidences of employee injury or illness due to work-related incidents.

“Even then there’s no legal obligation of business owners, hospitals or the Sheriff’s Office to report anything other than a fatality or a catastrophe in which three or more people are hospitalized from a work-related incident,” said Kim Stille, area director for the OSHA office in Madison. “Had we been notified of the previous incident, I would like to think we would have gone out to investigate it.”

Often unreported

Although safety violations and unsafe working conditions at small businesses may fly under the radar of federal inspectors, Stille said those same businesses can still find themselves facing an inspection if a complaint or referral is filed by a worker, building inspector, a legal representative or relative of an injured worker, or a safety or health professional.

Stille says OSHA has a priority list of inspection thresholds according to situations of imminent danger, fatalities and catastrophes, complaints, referrals, follow-up or planned inspections.

“We’re especially adamant about conducting inspections where fatalities or catastrophes have occurred in order to prevent them from happening again,” Stille said.

According to OSHA data, each day, 12 people are killed in work-related accidents. Last year, 4,547 workers were killed in the United States. That year, OSHA officers conducted 40,993 inspections of businesses.

Unfortunately, Stille said, many work-related injuries or unsafe conditions or lack of safety practices go unreported.

“We know people fear retribution from their employers, so whistleblower protections were put in place by the Department of Labor so that workers have a voice,” Stille said.

Still have a voice

Vivid Image produces screens for television and audio-video equipment.

Torres, a veteran worker in the projection screen industry for nearly 40 years, installed screens all across the country, including the White House, NASA and Disney, according to his obituary. The father of three will still have a voice in the investigation, as OSHA inspectors interview family members to piece together whether or not Torres uttered concerns for his safety at Vivid Image prior to his death.

“We will also talk to law enforcement, management, the other worker and local officials as well as conducting a walk-through of the site,” Stille said.

Following the inspection, federal workers will sit down with owner Robert Beattey to discuss results or possible violations that may have contributed to Torres’ death and Persha’s hospitalization.

Potential violations are ranked as: other than serious, serious, willful, repeated, and failure to abate. Penalties range up to $7,000 for each serious violation and up to $70,000 for each willful or repeated violation. Follow-up inspections may also be warranted.

“If a business received a citation for a willful or repeat violation, chances are you’re going to get a follow-up just to ensure that you did what you said you were going to do in terms of abatement,” Stille said.